Stillman m



(No Model.)

M. ATHERTON.

S. LEVER LA No. 472,938.

TCH FR REFRIGERATORS. v

Patented Apr. 12, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

u sTILLMANM. ATHERTON, OF BURLINGTON, VERMONT, AssIeNOR TO THE BALDWIN EEFRIGERATOR COMPANY, OF sAME PLACE.

LEVER-LATCH FOR REFRIGERATORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 472,938, dated April ,12, 1892.

Application tiled October 1, 1891.

T all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, STILLMAN M. ATHERTON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Burlington, in the county of Chittenden and State of Vermont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined Vedge-Lever and Lock for Refrigerators;

' wedge the door in the jamb to exclude Warm air fromentering at the joints, aswell as to lock the door from unwarrantable access to the interior of the refrigerator or other structure.

Experience has proven that an ordinary mortise-lock is of very little avail in a refrigerator, as it does not elfect the tight jamming or wedging of the door, and hence it is necessary to use a wedge-fastening for this purpose, thereby employing two different devices on one door to secure the two ends named. Attempts have also been made to combine a wedge-like operating-handle with a surface lock to be applied on the outside of the door; but so far as I am aware such prior devices embody somewhat complex devices in their structure, and they can be readily removed from the door by simply taking out a few screws, thereby effecting very easy access to the interior of the refrigerator..

It is the object of my invention to combine in a simple and inexpensive contrivance a Wedging-lever with a locking mechanism capable of application to the outside face of a refrigerator-door, and at the same time prevent both'the combined Wedge-lever and lock and the keeper from being removed from the outside or surface of the door.

With these ends in view the first part of my invention consists in the combination, with a surface casing having a locking-bolt, of a wedging-lever arranged exteriorly of the casing and provided with a shouldered h ub,which Serial No. 407,440. (No model.)

is fitted in the 1ock-casing so as to turn alim- -ited distance therein, and a pivot-bolt passing through the lever and fastened on the inside of the door byanut`,'the locking-bolt being arranged to project into the path of the shoulder on the hub of the wedge-lever.

In practice I fit the pivot-bolt in the lockcasing so that it cannot turn therein, and around this bolt is arranged a coiled spring, which tends to keep the parts together, any loose play or slack in the lock being taken up by tightening the nut on the inner end of the bolt. The keeper for the wedge end of the lever or handle is secured in place on the j amb by screws, which pass through the body of the keeper and through flanges let into the inside face of the door-jamb, so that' the keeper cannot be taken oft', when the door is closed, by removing the surface screws.

My invention further Vconsists of the construction and arrangement of parts, which will be'hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Ther accompanying drawings fully illustrate my improvements, in which- Figure l is an elevation showing my combined wedge-lever and lock applied to the surface of the door of arefrigerator, a part of the door and jamb being also shown. Fig. 2 is an edge view showing the vWedge lever or handle in its keeper. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through the device on the plane indicated by the dotted line of Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is a detail view in perspective of the wedge-lever detached. Fig, 5 is a similar view of the keeper; and Fig. 6 is a view showing the interior mechanism of one form of the lock, the back plate of the casing being removed.

Like yletters of reference denote corresponding parts in the several gures of the drawings.

A designates the wedge lever or handle,

Co2 of the lever has its outer surface inclined at a3, and these inclines converge toward the central line of the lever to form a longitudinal ridge, as shown. This inclined ridged end of the lever is adapted to Iitin the keeper C, the lower end of which is open at c and the inner surface of which is inclined at c to form a bearing-surface for the inclined ridged surface a3 of the lever, whereby the lever is enabled to tightly wedge the door when the latter isclosed and the lever turned to'bring its inclined surface to ride against the inclined bearing-surface c of the keeper. The base of the keeper is provided with screwholes above andbelow the part orsocket that receives the lever, and the keeper is cast in a single piece ofinetal with theright-angled flanges c', that are adapted to fit in recesses in the inside face of thejamb, the keeperbeing fastened on the jamb by means of screws or nails driven through the holes and the flanges therein. In the boss of the lever is formed an opening for the passage of the transverse pivot-bolt B, which extends centrally through the hub b and clear through the door, as shown in Fig. 2, the inner end of the pivot-bolt receiving a washer d and a nut d on the inner face of the door to prevent the bolt from being withdrawn and the wedgelever from detachment when the door is closed and locked. y

I will now proceed to a detailed description of one form of locking mechanism which may be used in connection with the wedge-lever;

' but it is to be understoodthat I do not strictly con line myself to this particular form of lock,

-as l am aware that other locking mechanisms for preventing the wedge-lever from having movement on the pivot-bolt can be used without departing from lthe gist of my invention. The surface lock E shown in Figs. 3 and 6 has a casing consisting of 'the front and back plates e e, secured together by screws, as is usual, a sliding bolt E', fitted and held in place between guide-posts e e', and a spring e2, secured between the two plates and bearing on the bowed edge of the locking-bolt in a manner to hold the same in the position to which it is moved by the key either to confine the wedge-lever in place or retracted to release the wedge-lever and permit it to be turned. A recess fis cut in the outside face of the door, leaving the edge of 'the .latter solid and intact, and in this recess is fitted the lock, which is housed entirely therein, as the front plate of the casing wholly conceals the recess, the look being fastened to the door by screws f', passing through the front plate, as shown. The front plate of the lock has a large circular opening, in which snugly lits the circular hub b of the Wedgelever, and the opening affords a bearing for the wedge-lever, which is secured in place and turns freelyon the transverse pivot-bolt B, the latter being polygonal in form and passing through a polygonal opening g in a circular stud g', integral with the back plate e, the stud being in line to receive a portion of the hub Z9 and servi-ng to prevent the pivotvbolt from turning, and thereby holding said pivot-bolt fixed or stationary.

In the outer face of the circular'stud is' formed a groove or seat h, and in this seat lits the inner end of a coiled spring H, which encircles the pivot-bolt and has its outer end fitted in the hollow boss of the wedge-lever. This spring is thus confined in place between the back plate e and the wedge-lever, and by tightening the nut d on the inner face of the door Vthe bolt is adj usted to compress the spring and thus take up anylooseness or play in the parts.

This being the construction of my combined wedge-lever and lock, the operation may be briefly described as follows: After the door is closed the wedge-lever is turned to a horizontal position to cause the inclined ridged end to ride against the inclined surface of the keeper, thus tightly wedging the door in lever turned upward to release the same from the keeper, after which the door can be pulled open by the wedge-lever. quite important in a combined wedge-lever and lock, as it serves to keep the wedge-lever from having idle movement on its center and from getting in the path of the keeper when closing the door. In the ordinary wedge-lever used on refrigerator-doors it is annoying to have it slip out of position and strike the keeper while the door is being closed, which requires the lever to be adjusted to clear the keeper, then to close the door tight, and again adjust thelever to engage the keeper; but with my improvement the wedge-lever is held in the position to which it is turned, so that The spring H is IOO IIO

the door can be closed without interference,

and then confined in place bya single turn of the lever and the locking mechanism.

The advantages of my improved lock will readily commend themselves to any one skilled in the art towhich the invention relates.

It is evident that changes in the form and proportion of parts, as well as in the details of construction of the mechanism herein shown and described as an embodiment of my invention, can be made without sacrificing the advantages of the invention.

In most of the socalled"lever-locks it is necessary to provide two separate locks and corresponding keepers for right and left hand doors; but my invention obviates this objection, as the lever-lock is applicable to either style ofdoor by simply reversing the handle or lever, which necessitates the use of only one form of lock.

izol

Having thus fully described my-invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A surface lock adapted to be let into the face of a door and having asuitable lockingbolt, combined with a keeper, a Wedge-lever having a bearing in the lock to oscillate or turn therein, a compression-spring acting on the wedge-lever, and a draw-bolt passing through the Wedge-lever and door, substantially as and for the purpose described.l

2. The combination, with a lock provided with a suitable bolt and a fixed keeper on the door-jamb, of a Wedge-lever-liaving a bearing in said lock anda draw-bolt which passes through the wedge-lever and a door, subst-antially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A surface lock adapted to be applied to the face of a door and having suitable boltworks and a bearing for a Wedge-lever, combined with a keeper, the wedge-lever provided with a cylindrical shouldered hub, which fits snugly in the bearing, a spring arranged Within the cylindrical hub of said Wedge-lever, and a draw-bolt passing through the Wedgelever and door, substantially as described.

4. A surface lock adapted to be applied to the face of a door and having suitable locking mechanism and a bearing, combined with the Wedge-lever having a cylindrical shouldered hub fitting snugly in the bearing, a stationary bolt passing through the Wedge-lever and lock, a spring confined between the lock and Wedge-lever and bearing against the latter, and a keeper, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a suitable lockcasing having a bolt and a iixed keeper, of a Wedge-lever, a draw-bolt passing through said Wedge-lever, and a spring bearing against the lever and adapted to be compressed by adjusting the draw-bolt, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination 'of a movable Wedgelever, a single fastening-bolt therefor, and a spring bearing against said Wedge-lever and adapted to be compressed by endwise 'adj ustment of the bolt, substantially as described.

7. The combination of a surface lock having an aligned bearing and polygonal springseat, the Wedge-shaped lever having a hub f1tting in the bearing, the spring resting Within the hub and the spring-seat, and a single bolt passing through the Wedge-lever and polygonal spring-seat, substantially as described. 8. A surfaeelock adapted to be applied to the face of a door and having thebe'aring,the

stud formed withl a polygonal opening and the groove or seat, and a locking mechanism, combined With a Wedge-lever having its shouldered hub fitting in the bearing, asingle bolt passing through the wedge-lever and the stud and fastened on the inside of the door by a nut, a spiral spring seated in the hub and the seat of the stud, and a keeper, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

STILLMAN M. ATHERTON. 

